Tim Van Patten
200px | birthplace=Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA | birthdate=June 10, 1959 | profession=Actor Motion picture director, producer, and writer | IMDb = 0887700 | role= | roles=Executive Producer Director Writer | season | seasons=1, 2, 3 & 4 | first="Boardwalk Empire" | last= | credits=37 }}Tim Van Patten, born June 10, 1959 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA, is a motion picture actor, director, writer and producer. He is an executive producer and a regular episode director for Boardwalk Empire. He has worked on the first, second, third and fourth seasons. He also wrote an episode for the first season. He is a prolific television director and has worked on many series for HBO including The Sopranos, The Wire, Deadwood and The Pacific. Van Patten also had a career as an actor before moving behind the camera. Biography Earlier career Van Patten also had a career as an actor before moving behind the camera. He is perhaps best known for portraying Salami on The White Shadow. He also played the villainous teenager Peter Stegman in Class of 1984 and Max Keller on The Master. Van Patten made his directing debut in 1992 on Home Fires. He worked extensively on Touched by an Angel throughout the 1990s. He also worked on critically acclaimed crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street and New York Undercover. In 1999 he did his first work for HBO directing the first season episode of The Sopranos "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti". The episode was written by the series creator David Chase and producer Frank Renzulli. He returned to work on the second season of The Sopranos in 2000. He directed the episodes "Commendatori", "House Arrest" and "Big Girls Don't Cry". "Commendatori" was written by Chase. The other two episodes were scripted by Terence Winter (creator of Boardwalk Empire) and marked the beginning of a long and successful collaboration between the two. In 2001 Van Patten made his television writing debut with The Sopranos third season episode "Pine Barrens". He co-wrote the story for the episode with Winter and Winter wrote the teleplay. Van Patten and Winter won both the Writers Guild Award and the Edgar Award for the episode. "Pine Barrens" was directed by Steve Buscemi (star of Boardwalk Empire). Van Patten also directed the episodes "Proshai, Livushka", "Second Opinion" and "Amour Fou" for the third season. "Proshai, Livushka" was written by Chase "Second Opinion" was written by Lawrence Konner whom Van Patten would work with again on Boardwalk Empire. The teleplay for "Amour Fou" was written by Renzulli from a story by Chase. Van Patten also began directing for the comedy series Ed in 2001. In 2002 he directed the season one finale of new HBO series The Wire entitled "Sentencing". The episode featured Boardwalk Empire star Michael K. Williams in a guest starring role. He also directed three further episode of The Sopranos for that shows fourth season; "Christopher", "Whoever Did This" and "Calling All Cars". Among the writers of "Calling All Cars" were Winter and freelance writer David Flebotte who would go on to write for Boardwalk Empire. In 2003 he directed a second episode of The Wire - "Stray Rounds" for the show's second season. Later that year he worked on the HBO series Sex and the City. The show was in its sixth and final season which aired as two parts. Van Patten directed the penultimate episode of the first part "A Woman's Right to Shoes" and the mid-season finale "Boy, Uninterrupted". He returned to direct the two-part series finale "An American Girl in Paris" in 2004. The Sopranos did not begin its fifth season until 2004. Van Patten directed a further three episodes for the fifth season; "Two Tonys" written by Winter, "Unidentified Black Males" written by Winter and Matthew Weiner and "Long Term Parking" written by Winter. "Long Term Parking" featured the departure of starring cast member Drea de Matteo. Winter won the Emmy for Best Writing in a Dramatic Series for "Long Term Parking". The fifth season of The Sopranos featured Steve Buscemi in a season long guest starring role as Tony Blundetto. Later that year he directed a further episode of The Wire for the third season "Back Burners" (again featuring Michael K. Williams, now in a starring role). In 2005 he directed a second season episode of the HBO Western Deadwood called "Childish Things" and a first season episode of the network's historical drama Rome entitled "Pharsalus". The Sopranos again spent more than a year on hiatus. Van Patten remained a director when they returned to the screen in 2006 to air a sixth and final season separated into two parts, following the model originated by Sex and the City. He directed four episodes for the first part; "Members Only" written by Winter; "Live Free or Die" written by Winter, Chase, Mitchell Burgess & Robin Green; "Johnny Cakes" written by Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider; and "Cold Stones" written by Chase, Frolov & Schneider. While The Sopranos was on mid-season hiatus he directed a second episode of Rome. The episode "Passover" was the season two premiere. Rome was cancelled after the second season. Van Patten returned to The Sopranos when the second part of the sixth season began in 2007. He helmed a further four episodes for the show; "Soprano Home Movies" written by Chase, Weiner, Frolov & Schneider; "Chasing It" written by Weiner; and "The Second Coming" written by Winter. After the conclusion of The Sopranos Van Patten took his first producer credit. He became a supervising producer and director for the HBO World War II mini-series The Pacific. He directed the parts one, seven and nine for the epic. As a producer on the mini-series he worked with the other regular director Jeremy Podeswa, a future regular on Boardwalk Empire. Boardwalk Empire Van Patten came aboard as an executive producer prior for the pilot episode. Terence Winter was already attached to adapt the book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City and serve as an executive producer. Academy Award Winner Martin Scorsese was attached to direct the pilot and as an executive producer. The project's other executive producers were Stephen Levinson and Mark Wahlberg. Lawrence Konner was a co-executive producer for the first season. Van Patten directed four episodes for the first season; the second episode "The Ivory Tower" from a screenplay by Winter; the third episode "Broadway Limited" from a screenplay by supervising producer Margaret Nagle; the sixth episode "Family Limitation" from a screenplay by supervising producer Howard Korder; and the season finale "A Return to Normalcy" from a screenplay by Winter. Van Patten also co-wrote the season's seventh episode "Home" with freelance writer Paul Simms. "Home" was directed by Allen Coulter. He returned as an executive producer for the second season in 2011 and directed a further four episodes; the season premiere "21" written by Winter; the fifth episode "Gimcrack & Bunkum" from a screenplay by Korder, now co-executive producer; the eighth episode "Two Boats and a Lifeguard" scripted by Winter; and the season finale "To the Lost" again written by Winter. He returned as an executive producer for the third season in 2012 and directed the season premiere "Resolution", which was written by Winter. His former The Sopranos colleagues Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider joined the crew as Co-Executive Producer's and writers for third season. He returned as an executive producer for the fourth season in 2013 and directed the season premiere "New York Sour" from a screenplay by Korder, now a fellow Executive Producer. During Boardwalk Empire He helmed the pilot and the second episode of new HBO fantasy drama Game of Thrones in 2011 in the hiatus between the first and second seasons of Boardwalk Empire. Credits Director Writer Executive Producer External links Category: Directors Category: Producers Category: Writers